Given / New - the Flow of Writing

1. Given / New- the Flow of Writing Li Zhang Granville TAFE

2. What is this lesson about? It aims to illustrate how information is being organised as we move from one sentence to the next in report writing. It looks at: • The themes of the sentences • The new information in the sentences • The pattern of things which are appearing as the themes and as new information in the sentences

3. Given/New • The natural element or information to make the theme of a sentence is the information already given to the reader in the text. The theme in English sentences tends to be already known or familiar information. • Information which we place at the end of the sentence is typically new information for the reader. It is information which we have not yet told the reader about.

4. Theme/Given/Starting-point • The theme/starting-point of a sentence is what comes first in the sentence. It is a significant feature of English as the theme of the sentence is what we choose to make the starting-point of our message to the reader. • By changing the theme of a sentence you can significantly change the meaning of the sentence.

5. Theme/Given/Starting-point • i. He came at half past eight. • ii. Half past eight he came. Which speaker do you think is annoyed and how do you know? The second speaker puts the time in theme position in the sentence which gives the emphasis to the time. By doing this we can sense that this person is not happy about the late arrival.

6. Theme/Given/Starting-point The important points about theme are: • Every sentence begins with a theme. We can tell the theme of a sentence by seeing what comes first in the sentence. • The theme of a sentence is the starting point for what the writer wants to tell the reader.

7. The New Information • The new information the writer wants to give the reader comes at the end of the sentence. So the same time as a writer chooses the theme of a sentence, he/she chooses what new information is for the reader.

8. Theme/Given/Starting-point • By choosing the theme of a sentence and what new information is in the sentence the writer decides how to package information for the reader.

9. Theme-Given (example 1) • a) Last Thursday the committee met. • b) The committee is now evaluating the report. Look at where the words the committee come in the two sentences. In the first sentence it is new information which comes last in the sentence. In the second sentence the committee is not new information, it is known or given information and it becomes the theme of the second sentence. The newsworthy element of the second sentence is that the report is being evaluated. The writer highlights this information as being news to the reader by placing it at the end of the sentence.

10. Theme-Given (example 2) • a) Last Thursday the report was tabled. b) The report is now being evaluated by the committee. In these sentences the writer has packaged the information differently. In the second sentence the theme or starting-point of the message is the report because it has been introduced in the previous sentence. The writer always has a choice of what to make the theme or starting-point of a sentence and what to choose as the news of the sentence. By doing this the writer is signalling to the reader how the message is to be understood.

11. Given/New (example 3) • Coles analysis of the process is complicated by the non-normal distribution and stratification of the measurements. Coles analysis is the natural theme/starting-point of the sentence. The new information of this sentence is the non-normal distribution and stratification of the measurements. The natural place for the new information is at the end of the sentence. The packaging of information in this sentence follows the normal pattern where given or known information is the theme of the sentence and new information is at the end of the sentence.

12. Given/New • Once new information has been introduced it can subsequently be picked up to become the theme of the following sentence – the starting point for the message of the next sentence.

13. Given/New (example 4) Let’s see how this pattern occurs in the following two sentences from a report: • TAA analysis of the process is complicated by the non-normal distributionand stratification of the measurements. • The non-normal distribution of the measurementsmakes it difficult or impossible to determine the TAA status of the process. The news in the first sentence – the non-normal distribution and stratification of the measurements – becomes the theme of the second sentence.

14. Given/New Coles analysis of the process the non-normal distribution and measurements stratification of The non-normal distribution the Coles status of the process of the measurements This is a very common pattern in writing. The new information of one sentence becomes the theme or starting-point for the next sentence. Theme New information Theme New information Theme New information

15. The Flow of Information • By looking at the pattern of what is made theme and what comes as new information we can track the flow of information through the report. • The choice of themes we make in writing paragraphs is essential to the writing of well organised and coherent paragraphs.

16. Reference • Baylis, Joyce & Slade Effective Report Writing, Centre for Workplace Communication and Culture